Obama: HUD pick central part of economic blueprint

Saturday, December 13, 2008 | 9:01 p.m. CST

BY
PHILIP ELLIOTT/The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Promising a prominent role for his housing department, President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named a Harvard-educated architect to lead an agency dealing with the mortgage mess that dragged the country into a recession.

With one in 10 U.S. homeowners delinquent on mortgage payments or in foreclosure, Obama said New York City housing commissioner Shaun Donovan will bring "fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas" to the Housing and Urban Development Department and help resolve the housing and economic crisis.

QUOTE — "Prevention counseling, legal services and education can help keep families in their homes. A home is far too valuable for people to lose." — statement on The Center for New York City Neighborhoods receiving $500,000 grant, June 24, 2008

—The Associated Press

"We can't keep throwing money at the problem, hoping for a different result," Obama said during his weekend radio address. "We need to approach the old challenge of affordable housing with new energy, new ideas, and a new, efficient style of leadership. We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won't do."

Donovan, head of New York's Housing Preservation and Development Department, is a former Clinton administration HUD official with a national reputation for curtailing low-income foreclosures, developing affordable housing and managing the nation's largest housing plan.

If confirmed by the Senate, Donovan would become the nation's top housing official in the midst of the worst recession in decades. Falling home values and stricter lending standards have ensnared millions of U.S. households. More than 259,000 homes received a foreclosure-related notice in November, up 28 percent from a year earlier. The Federal Reserve is predicting that new foreclosures this year will reach 2.25 million, more than double pre-crisis levels.

Conrad Egan, president of the nonpartisan National Housing Conference, said Obama's selection of Donovan signals that he recognizes HUD can play a big role in the economic recovery.

"It really needs to be a seat at the Cabinet table that is the principle point where housing and community development issues are brought together and resolved successfully," Egan said. "HUD has been perceived as a second-tier participant in meeting that challenge."

Congressional Democrats, with support from Obama, have sought to use part of the $700 billion banking bailout to help homeowners facing foreclosure. The Bush administration has resisted those efforts.

Obama has been reluctant to dive into the details of the plans. Since winning the presidency, he has asked his advisers to develop a plan that would save or create some 2.5 million jobs in the next two years and include the largest public works program in a half century. He said Saturday he sees HUD playing an important role

"This plan will only work with a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort to make it a reality. We need every part of our government working together," Obama said, adding that "few will be more essential to this effort" than HUD.

Donovan, a 42-year-old New York native, told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in May that HUD's programs have led to "a feast-famine cycle, in which our program grows to the allowed size and then contracts so we don't go above our authorized level."

Obama said Donovan "understands that we need to move past the stale arguments that say low-income Americans shouldn't even try to own a home or that our mortgage crisis is due solely to a few greedy lenders. He knows that we can put the dream of owning a home within reach for more families, so long as we're making loans in the right way, and so long as those who buy a home are prepared for the responsibilities of homeownership."

As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's top aide for housing, Donovan kept foreclosures to a minimum in the city's low- and moderate-income home ownership plan, with just five of 17,000 participating homes falling into foreclosure. He oversaw the creation of the $200 million New York Acquisition Fund, a collaboration involving the city, foundations and financial institutions. It is intended to help small developers and nonprofit groups compete for land in the private market.

Obama's selection of Donovan marks the 11th post he has filled in his Cabinet in just over a month. Still to come are appointments to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of energy, education, interior, labor, transportation and agriculture.

The selection of Donovan — announced at 6 a.m. Saturday via e-mail and later in Obama's Saturday radio address — also was a surprise. Obama had introduced all previous Cabinet appointments at televised news conferences, where he also took questions from reporters.

In the past, HUD often has been led by someone who is a minority; Donovan is white. Latino groups were pushing heavily for Diaz, following in the footsteps of Clinton appointee Henry Cisneros of San Antonio. Bush picked Mel Martinez of Florida, a Hispanic, and Alphonso Jackson of Texas, an African-American.

So you are calling lawyers,veterans,doctors,teachers no matter what racial back round they might come from and a host of other professional classifications of citizens lazy and irresponsible citizens who are using a government provided service as it was intended to be and who are also quite responsible in alot of ways we all may not know in or around all communities across this nation.

Great job on another unfounded ignorant conjecture of a presentation that once again proves your ignorance about this issue.

If you would only be required to use your real name your statement might carry at least a tad bit of any accountability but since you refuse and the editors of this paper refuse to enforce their own rules they openly posted we can once again categorize your statement as the ongoing ramblings of a blabbering lunatic only bent on the putting down,exorcising,degradation and harassment of groups of citizens you absolutely know nothing about as a whole.

"Ayn Rand" posts as the same name each comment, so anyone can determine what sort of credence to give to their comments, just as they do Charles Dudley, Jr. or myself. Arguing about who "they" really are doesn't get very far in disputing their comments.

Chuck, in the second link above, you wrote: "This is so true all across our country that where ever Section 8 Housing moves in especially when it allows people of a 'inner city area' to be able 'to move out from that area and all around town' that the crime rates begin to rise in those new areas of that city where Section 8 Housing is allowed and thus you see the City Police Departments begin to request more officers,.more patrol cars,more resources due to increases in drug trafficking,gang activity,spousal abuse cases,stolen or vandalized vehicle reporting and more."

Later down that page, you wrote, "This is what allowing Section 8 Housing spread through out your city does."

Anyone who wants more examples of your beliefs about Section 8 folks need only click on that second link. Those who do might be amused how time and again you are asked to back up your assertions but cannot.

For all we know, Ayn Rand is a big fan of the author and changed their name to match and Charles Dudley, Jr. is the screen name of Mary Ratliff. Let the Missourian deal with it Chuck, you're not the sheriff here.

I could't aay it any better than the following "opinion" which appeared in the NY Times...http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinio...I would add, however, that maybe it's time for significant "HUD reform."This could be included in some of that "Change stuff" Obama campaigned on.

>>> ray shapiro December 14, 2008 | 1:42 p.m.I could't aay it any better than the following "opinion" which appeared in the NY Times...http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinio......I would add, however, that maybe it's time for significant "HUD reform."This could be included in some of that "Change stuff" Obama campaigned on.<<<